eozen81

Thank you!
After soaking for 24 hours, the water got pretty clear:

But I did a complete 100% water change with RO water, slowly fill it up and the water is crystal clear:

Now to speed up the cycle time, and since ADA leak lot of ammonia in the water, this is what I use:


Got my scape in, don't know why the driftwood takes too long to sink, I'd been boiling and soaking them for 2 weeks. So I got to put some rocks on to keep it down. Once they sink completely, I'll remove the rocks

Now all the filters are running and I love how clear the water is. I also got a SS Skimmer runs on the left side to remove all the dirts on the surface.
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Hi everyone!
I'd like to share my first journal in this forum. It is also my first bee shrimps tank. I love aquascaping and I love shrimps...so I really want to make the tank as natural as possible.
Tank specs:
Rimless GLA 17G (old model) - 24x12x14in
Filters: Eheim 2213 (matrix, substrat pro), Boyu (full 1L de-nitrate), dual sponge filter with air pump, UGF (not running, just for water change)
Substrate: 9L ADA Aquasoil , Lowkey Speed Sand (for initial setup)
Lighting: Current CFL, also Finnex Planted Plus available to switch
Let started with how I set up and cycle the tank:
Got everything needed for my bee shrimps tank:

Assemble the UGF and eheim filter in place

Spread 1/4 bag of Lowkey Speed Sand evenly in the tank, not on the UGF:

Pour half bag of ADA Aquasoil in:

Again, spread 1/4 bag of Lowkey Speed Sand evenly on top of the substrate, the other half bag will be used for later or water change if needed:

Finish pouring the left over substrate, spread out evenly, I created a little depth for the scape I'm going with:


Teaser: fill up the tank using tap water and let it soak for 24 hours:

More pictures coming
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I observed this slippy floor problem with my female, she was stressed as I put her in the box as she cannot walk around in the plastic floor. I mean not only biofilm is a problem but also the slippy floor as I observed this personally. Once you add some soil this is not a problem at all.
On the contrary I didn't wait for biofilm but my 3 babies in the HOB look quite happy, they are feeding on moss, mangrowe, soil etc.... I hope they will be ok like this.

Hello,
I am a new user of Marina HOB (Large) but I can definetely confirm that you need to put soil into the HOB. At first I didn't put any soil but only small mangrove root and moss and 3 baby shrimps were always on manrove. They didn't walk around the slippy floor. After I put soil every babies started to walk around as they do at the main tank.
Old:

Current:

Soil isn't necessary. However, you should let your box run for several weeks before putting shrimp in it so that biofilm can form inside. This will give babies something to feast on once they're born. Babies don't move much when first born.

Hello,
I am a new user of Marina HOB (Large) but I can definetely confirm that you need to put soil into the HOB. At first I didn't put any soil but only small mangrove root and moss and 3 baby shrimps were always on manrove. They didn't walk around the slippy floor. After I put soil every babies started to walk around as they do at the main tank.
Old:

Current:

I got sidetracked by Christmas and restarting my 60P so sorry for the delay. Here's a video of the setup. The water pump was supplying water for 3 tanks before the restart but I decided to take a box down and clean up the overall look of the tank.
https://vimeo.com/115412353
It's feed from a UGF but in hindsight id probably ask Han to make me a filter guard and not taken the UGF route. Regardless, I can't just take the UGF out now so I'm making the best of it, but future setups will not have a UGF feeding the water pump.

Happy Sunday!

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You are welcome.
 
For berried female, I use a glass/ white container to scoop her instead of using net. This will nether cause stress nor having the net scrap the eggs out.
 
If she is berried only today, just leave her alone for awhile. Scoop her only when she is actively in exposed area.

You need to put some form of substrate at the HOB/ breeder box. The slippery surface is making the shrimp unhappy.
 
In addition, since the box is high up, the light intensity is very high. This will stress the shrimp too. Either you shield it or add some hiding place.

It's not complete dark nor a blue, bluish Here is a close up photo of my male panda. BTW thank you for your breeder box tips on your thread. I have today installed Marina Hang on Breeder Box (Large) into my tank and put some mangrowe adn moss. I put 1 baby to make sure if it will be ok. After I check everything is fine, I will replace it with my berried female so that I can have a selective breeding.
 

Wow, fanstastic shots pal, congrats. I am happy that all is good. Keep up the good work. Bluish shrimps are always attractive.

Here is new pic today of some of the babies eating snowflake in the dish, and you can see they are getting bigger and definitely dark blue.

I use the hang on Marina breeder box...large size is best, but I did keep the Neos in a medium one this time.
I put a moss ball, some frogbit or floating plant in just for the mammas to hang onto, as I noticed they like to stay off the bare bottom of the tank.  I have also used some soil from the main tank too, so its whatever is handy at the time.
 
I put some dirty (yeah that mucky black/brown stuff that hangs inside the HOB) in the breeder box. I squeeze out a lot of the muck so its not soggy, but still contains muck....the Mamma and babies eat it constantly.  I did add an alder cone if I had any but this time didn't.  Piece of Catappa (Indian Almond Leaf) if I have some too.  This gives the babies lots of biofilm to eat from.
 
I squirt some Mosuras Gravidas mixed with the tank water into the box every 3 or 4 days, to add some extra nutrition for Mamma and babies.  Each day I vaccum up the poop, but then you need to check for babies that like to play in the muck.
 
I usually keep the babies till they are 3 weeks old before pouring them into the tank....I take out everything except the floss, shake out the mossball, cause some are usually in there, and let the box turn on its side and slowly release everything into the tank that way the babies just slide out easy....no netting, as they get caught in it and sometimes won't let go.
 
Yes I can see with a magnifier what color they are at 3 weeks.  This time I knew I have blues as a couple were darker than others so I am sure its a Blue Dream/Blue Rili cross....some of each.   They are doing good right now in the main tank, and growing.

I keep all my TB together. They've been breeing like mad ever since I got them. All my BB range in different shades of blue. I'm not out to seek the darkest blue color in my bolts. I preffer a range of different shades of blue. I think it makes them more interesting to look at.

I came home to a pleasant surprise today!   My first berried blue bolt ever 
Last saturday I had transferred my 5 lower grade bb to my main TB tank in better hopes for mating. The main tb tank has two high grade bb which I believe are males. I hope it was one of them that got her.          

I used plastic food wrap to cover the top of my tank to create humidity and to keep moisture in. Every 4 hours or so I mist the tank with a spray bottle.



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My branching wood is staring to decompose. Looks kinda nasty lol.

And my cholla wood is staring to grow some fuzzy brown algae

The lights have been on for 5 days 24hrs a day.
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Hey guys come fallow my journey in keeping shrimp! I've heard great reviews about MK products and decided to try it out for myself.
Equipment :
Ada - 17gal
Ada soil
High output t5
2211 ehiem canister filter
Heater
MK products
blue diamond - remineralizer
Red diamond - vitamins
Silver powder- bacteria
Golden powder- trace elements/minerals
Mk life balls - help balance out the tank

These are the products that i used in the set up.

This picture jumped ahead in acouple steps but I'll explain here.
First I laid about 2 inches of Ada then added the Silver powder. Hence this contains bacteria. After so ,I poured the rest of the Ada soil on top of the silver powder. Then I sprinkled the golden power on the very top layer. Golden powder contains minerals essential for shrimps.
After those steps I decided to play around with the Aqua scape.
I ended up with this scape



Hard scape consist of oko stone (not sure if I spelled it correctly) and branching wood.
I tied xmas moss to the branches.
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I've seen females become berried the very next day after giving birth. So, I'll put the female in the box after her clutch has hatched. I'll then put a few of my nicest males in with her. Hopefully she'll molt in the breeder box and they'll all get busy. Then I'll play some Barry White to ensure successful mating. Once she is holding eggs I'll remove both the female and the males and place them back into the general population. Once the babies hatch I'll leave them in the box for at least 2 weeks or until I can make out what they are and seperate them.

I haven't been doing it that way. But, I will be doing it this time with my female Tibee inside my TB tank now that I know 100% she's indeed female. Glad I could be if some help. Let us know how it goes[emoji106]
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I use the same set up Andy medium box and always keep it running.  My adult shrimp dont like it much but then again I only put them in when the males are freaking out. She tries to get away and the male is all over her and theres no place for her to really go. I might try putting my Pinto in there when she has her babies to keep them separate and see what I get out of her.

I'm using a medium Marina breeder box which is 6.5"L x 5"H x 3.5"W on my 7g tank. My shrimp don't appear stressed while in there. Perhaps some people have experienced a first time berried shrimp dropping her eggs in the box. I keep the box running 24/7 to insure there is enough biofilm for the babies when they are born.
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Wonderful shots mayphly, may I kindly ask how you use breeder box? I mean how do you see that a female is ready to get laid and take a proper male and put them into breeder box?

Here is a full view of my 7g tb tank.